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Thursday, January 5, 2012

The beat of the drum

Adult life in a structured society requires us to do at least one thing well. The rest is padding. Or fluff. Never mind that you consider your work enjoyable or rewarding, or that you are driven by passion and enthusiasm (just count yourself amongst the lucky ones), a job by which you make a living (and thereby provide for family and dependents - some of which dispense essential but unpaid work) remains one of the most universal conventions of a structured society.

Outside of that requirement, and assuming that one lives in a “free and healthy” society (free and healthy being purposefully vague and relative terms), one is left at liberty to express oneself. Preferably doing so within the constraints of the social-legal-political-religious mores of the day. And providing (at least as far as ones dependents are concerned) one does not lose ones job over it.

Even in the somewhat more predictable and contained world of bicycles (assuming here that we are talking about a form of transportation that has two wheels and reliant, at least in part, on human power - UCI regulations notwithstanding) there remains a broad range of options available for the inquisitive consumer. However, as any bicycle retailer will inform you, the vast majority of bicycles are built with a certain purpose in mind. A job, if you will, for which it is ideally suited.

And, in the name of advancing bicycling as a worthwhile activity, one will find numerous examples of bicycles and assorted componentry specifically targeting the challenges of a particular task at hand. Under the layers of rhetoric it is still the task that defines the build. Some concepts reach a production stage (often by incremental improvements of previous designs). Some go no further than an idle thought or a fancy render simply because of shortcomings in resources and/or available technology.

This, of course, should come as no surprise. Humans dominate the planet because they have a large brain and are adept at making tools. Ever since the first ape-man used a stick and poked it into someone else’s eye (probably his sister’s) and discovered that it hurt and that he got his way thereafter, he’s been in the game of making things for a purpose. Flint stones can be made sharp to cut or stab; two sticks can be rubbed together to make a fire; a pig’s bladder can be pressed into service as a flotation device or watertight container; and baked beans can be hermetically sealed in a tin thereby allowing this totally awesome (near) complete meal to last (virtually) forever.

Tools are defined by the tasks that they perform. They are made with a purpose in mind. Building on the results of appropriately applied tools is something that most people would refer to as progress. Conversely, modern man may well be born without a sense of purpose but over time he attains a set of skills that then defines him. The maker of tools himself becomes a tool within a structured society. Sure, some traditional cultures still segregate what duties certain pre-ordained classes may deliver but all structured societies have their labourers, their warriors, their academics, and their politicians.

So adult life in a structured society requires us to do at least one thing well. The rest may well be regarded as padding or fluff. But it’s fun. And it is why we bother to get out of bed in the morning. For a lucky few it is also their job. For everyone, it is their inner song. The beat of the drum.

Variety is the lubricant of life. And some people are just different. They choose follow the beat of a different drum. But in a world connected through social networking, internet forums, blogospheres, and collated image/ video galleries it is easy find others that beat to the same rhythm.

Some bicycles too are different. They are specially made to be, well, special.

Some are simply awesome.

There comes a time in a child’s life when your mother tells you “Oh honey, it’s ok to be different...” Although soothing and placating at the time, any child with the slightest bit of insight will, upon reflection, take to the comment with shock and dismay. Children want to be accepted, to have friends, to blend in with what they perceive as the accepted norm. Most adults continue their life living by this rule. But others don’t. “Ok to be different” is a phrase that liberates them from the shackles of accepted society. And some clearly take this freedom further than others.

But I found them funny-looking then. And I find them funny-looking now.

I too rode a bike back in them days, and it sure didn’t look anything like them things (then again, I thought 30km/h was going kinda fast). Even now I find fitting a Brooks saddle on a race bike from the 1970s-1990s (a time when Brooks saddles were well and truly out of the game when it came to competitive racing) utterly inappropriate. It’s like Conan the Barbarian swinging a light sabre. It’s just not right.

About Me

This blog was originally written to counter misinformation spreading on the internet about Campagnolo's delta brakes. If you are looking for that it's my first post in August 2008. Now excuse me if I indulge myself...